欧孚教育 OFFER EDUCATION
龙湖时代天街17栋10楼 欧孚教育
新托福阅读词汇150题
OG
Paragraph 3: The fossil consists of a complete skull of an archaeocyte, an extinct group of ancestors of modern cetaceans. Although limited to a skull, the Pakicetus fossil provides precious details on the origins of cetaceans. The skull is cetacean-like but its jawbones lack the enlarged space that is filled with fat or oil and used for receiving underwater sound in modern whales. Pakicetus probably detected sound through the ear opening as in land mammals. The skull also lacks a blowhole, another cetacean adaptation for diving. Other features, however, show experts that Pakicetus is a transitional form between a group of extinct flesh-eating mammals, the mesonychids, and cetaceans. It has been suggested that Pakicetus fed on fish in shallow water and was not yet adapted for life in the open ocean. It probably bred and gave birth on land.【OG- The Origins of Cetaceans】
3. The word “precious” in the passage is closest in meaning to (3)
○exact
○scarce
○valuable
○initial
Paragraph 4: Another major discovery was made in Egypt in 1989. Several skeletons of another early whale, Basilosaurus, were found in sediments left by the Tethys Sea and now exposed in the Sahara desert. This whale lived around 40 million years ago, 12 million years after Pakicetus. Many incomplete skeletons were found but they included, for the first time in an archaeocyte, a complete hind leg that features a foot with three tiny toes. Such legs would have been far too small to have supported the 50-foot-long Basilosaurus on land. Basilosaurus was undoubtedly a fully marine whale with possibly nonfunctional, or vestigial, hind legs.【OG-The Origins of Cetaceans】
6. The word “exposed” in the passage is closest in meaning to (2)
○explained
○visible
○identified
○located
Paragraph 5: An even more exciting find was reported in 1994, also from Pakistan. The now extinct whale Ambulocetus natans ("the walking whale that swam") lived in the Tethys Sea 49 million years ago. It lived around 3 million years after Pakicetus but 9 million before Basilosaurus. The fossil luckily includes a good portion of the hind legs. The legs were strong and ended in long feet very much like those of a modern pinniped. The legs were certainly functional both on land and at sea. The whale retained a tail and lacked a fluke, the major means of locomotion in modern cetaceans. The structure of the backbone shows, however, that Ambulocetus swam like modern whales by moving the rear portion of its body up and down, even though a fluke was missing. The large hind legs were used for propulsion in water. On land, where it probably bred and gave birth, Ambulocetus may have moved around very much like a modern sea lion. It was undoubtedly a whale that linked life on land with life at sea.【OG-The Origins of Cetaceans】
11. The word “propulsion” in the passage is closest in meaning to (4)
○staying afloat
○changing direction
○decreasing weight
○moving forward
Paragraph 1: The deserts, which already occupy approximately a fourth of the Earth's land surface, have in recent decades been increasing at an alarming pace. The expansion of desert-like conditions into areas where they did not previously exist is called desertification. It has been estimated that an additional one-fourth of the Earth's land surface is threatened by this process. 【OG-Desert Formation】
1. The word “threatened” in the passage is closest in meaning to (2)
○restricted
○endangered
○prevented
○rejected
Paragraph 5: There is little doubt, however, that desertification in most areas results primarily from human activities rather than natural processes. The semiarid lands bordering the deserts exist in a delicate ecological balance and are limited in their potential to adjust to increased environmental pressures. Expanding populations are subjecting the land to increasing pressures to provide them with food and fuel. In wet periods, the land may be able to respond to these stresses. During the dry periods that are common phenomena along the desert margins, though, the pressure on the land is often far in excess of its diminished capacity, and desertification results. 【OG-Desert Formation】
3. The word “delicate” in the passage is closest in meaning to (1)
○fragile
○predictable
○complex
○valuable
Paragraph 6: Four specific activities have been identified as major contributors to the desertification processes: overcultivation, overgrazing, firewood gathering, and overirrigation. The cultivation of crops has expanded into progressively drier regions as population densities have grown. These regions are especially likely to have periods of severe dryness, so that crop failures are common. Since the raising of most crops necessitates the prior removal of the natural vegetation, crop failures leave extensive tracts of land devoid of a plant cover and susceptible to wind and water erosion. 【OG-Desert Formation】
5. The word “progressively” in the passage is closest in meaning to (4)
○openly
○impressively
○objectively
○increasingly
7. The phrase “devoid of” in the passage is closest in meaning to (4)
○consisting of
○hidden by
○except for
○lacking in
Paragraph 3: Exhibitors, however, wanted to maximize their profits, which they could do more readily by projecting a handful of films to hundreds of customers at a time (rather than one at a time) and by charging 25 to 50 cents admission. About a year after the opening of the first Kinetoscope parlor in 1894, showmen such as Louis and Auguste Lumiere, Thomas Armat and Charles Francis Jenkins, and Orville and Woodville Latham (with the assistance of Edison's former assistant, William Dickson) perfected projection devices. These early projection devices were used in vaudeville theaters, legitimate theaters, local town halls, makeshift storefront theaters, fairgrounds, and amusement parks to show films to a mass audience.【OG-Early Cinema】
4. The word “readily” in the passage is closest in meaning to (2)
○frequently
○easily
○intelligently
○obviously
5. The word “assistance” in the passage is closest in meaning to (3)
○criticism
○leadership
○help
○approval
Paragraph 6: With the advent of projection, the viewer's relationship with the image was no longer private, as it had been with earlier peepshow devices such as the Kinetoscope and the Mutoscope, which was a similar machine that reproduced motion by means of successive images on individual photographic cards instead of on strips of celluloid. It suddenly became public—an experience that the viewer shared with dozens, scores, and even hundreds of others. At the same time, the image that the spectator looked at expanded from the minuscule peepshow dimensions of 1 or 2 inches (in height) to the life-size proportions of 6 or 9 feet.【OG-Early Cinema】
11. The word “expanded” in the passage is closest in meaning to(1)
○was enlarged
○was improved
○was varied
○was rejected
Paragraph 5: The Psychodynamic Approach. Theorists adopting the psychodynamic approach hold that inner conflicts are crucial for understanding human behavior, including aggression. Sigmund Freud, for example, believed that aggressive impulses are inevitable reactions to the frustrations of daily life. Children normally desire to vent aggressive impulses on other people, including their parents, because even the most attentive parents cannot gratify all of their demands immediately. Yet children, also fearing their parents' punishment and the loss of parental love, come to repress most aggressive impulses. The Freudian perspective, in a sense: sees us as "steam engines." By holding in rather than venting "steam," we set the stage for future explosions. Pent-up aggressive impulses demand outlets. They may be expressed toward parents in indirect ways such as destroying furniture, or they may be expressed toward strangers later in life.【OG-Aggression】
3. The word “inevitable”in the passage is closest in meaning to（1）
○unavoidable
○regrettable
○controllable
○unsuitable
4. The word “gratify”in the passage is closest in meaning to （3）
○identify
○modify
○satisfy
○simplify
Paragraph 8: One cognitive theory suggests that aggravating and painful events trigger unpleasant feelings. These feelings, in turn, can lead to aggressive action, but not automatically. Cognitive factors intervene. People decide whether they will act aggressively or not on the basis of factors such as their experiences with aggression and their interpretation of other people's motives. Supporting evidence comes from research showing that aggressive people often distort other people's motives. For example, they assume that other people mean them harm when they do not.【OG-Aggression】
10. The word “distort”in the passage is closest in meaning to （2）
○mistrust
○misinterpret
○criticize
○resent
Paragraph 3: The factory changed that. Goods produced by factories were not as finished or elegant as those done by hand, and pride in craftsmanship gave way to the pressure to increase rates of productivity. The new methods of doing business involved a new and stricter sense of time. Factory life necessitated a more regimented schedule, where work began at the sound of a bell and workers kept machines going at a constant pace. At the same time, workers were required to discard old habits, for industrialism demanded a worker who was alert, dependable, and self-disciplined. Absenteeism and lateness hurt productivity and, since work was specialized, disrupted the regular factory routine. Industrialization not only produced a fundamental change in the way work was organized; it transformed the very nature of work.【OG-Artisans and Industrialization】
3. The word “disrupted”in the passage is closest in meaning to (4)
○prolonged
○established
○followed
○upset
Paragraph 5: In this newly emerging economic order, workers sometimes organized to protect their rights and traditional ways of life. Craft workers such as carpenters, printers, and tailors formed unions, and in 1834 individual unions came together in the National Trades' Union. The labor movement gathered some momentum in the decade before the Panic of 1837, but in the depression that followed, labor's strength collapsed. During hard times, few workers were willing to strike* or engage in collective action. And skilled craft workers, who spearheaded the union movement, did not feel a particularly strong bond with semiskilled factory workers and unskilled laborers. More than a decade of agitation did finally bring a workday shortened to 10 hours to most industries by the 1850’s, and the courts also recognized workers' right to strike, but these gains had little immediate impact.【OG-Artisans and Industrialization】
7. The word “spearheaded” in the passage is closest in meaning to (1)
○led
○accepted
○changed
○resisted
Paragraph 1:Tunas, mackerels, and billfishes (marlins, sailfishes, and swordfish) swim continuously. Feeding, courtship, reproduction, and even "rest" are carried out while in constant motion. As a result, practically every aspect of the body form and function of these swimming "machines" is adapted to enhance their ability to swim.【OG-Swimming Machines】
1. The word “enhance” in the passage is closest in meaning to (2)
○use
○improve
○counteract
○balance
Paragraph 4: Tunas, mackerels, and billfishes have even more sophisticated adaptations than these to improve their hydrodynamics. The long bill of marlins, sailfishes, and swordfish probably helps them slip through the water. Many supersonic aircraft have a similar needle at the nose. 【OG-Swimming Machines】
4. The word “sophisticated”in the passage is closest in meaning to (1)
○complex
○amazing
○creative
○practical
Paragraph 7: One potential problem is that opening the mouth to breathe detracts from the streamlining of these fishes and tends to slow them down. Some species of tuna have specialized grooves in their tongue. It is thought that these grooves help to channel water through the mouth and out the gill slits, thereby reducing water resistance. 【OG-Swimming Machines】
8. The word “channel”in the passage is closest in meaning to (3)
○reduce
○remove
○direct
○provide
Paragraph 1: The development of the modern presidency in the United States began with Andrew Jackson who swept to power in 1829 at the head of the Democratic Party and served until 1837. During his administration, he immeasurably enlarged the power of the presidency. "The President is the direct representative of the American people," he lectured the Senate when it opposed him. "He was elected by the people, and is responsible to them." With this declaration, Jackson redefined the character of the presidential office and its relationship to the people.【OG-Nineteenth-Century Politics in the United States】
1. The word “immeasurably”in the passage is closest in meaning to (2)
○frequently
○greatly
○rapidly
○reportedly
Paragraph 4: Whigs and Democrats differed not only in their attitudes toward the market but also about how active the central government should be in people's lives. Despite Andrew Jackson's inclination to be a strong President, Democrats as a rule believed in limited government. Government's role in the economy was to promote competition by destroying monopolies' and special privileges. In keeping with this philosophy of limited government, Democrats also rejected the idea that moral beliefs were the proper sphere of government action. Religion and politics, they believed, should be kept clearly separate, and they generally opposed humanitarian legislation.【OG-Nineteenth-Century Politics in the United States】
6. The word “inclination”in the passage is closest in meaning to (2)
○argument
○tendency
○example
○warning
Paragraph 5: The Whigs, in contrast, viewed government power positively. They believed that it should be used to protect individual rights and public liberty, and that it had a special role where individual effort was ineffective. By regulating the economy and competition, the government could ensure equal opportunity. Indeed, for Whigs the concept of government promoting the general welfare went beyond the economy. In particular, Whigs in the northern sections of the United States also believed that government power should be used to foster the moral welfare of the country. They were much more likely to favor social-reform legislation and aid to education.【OG-Nineteenth-Century Politics in the United States】
8. The word “concept” in the passage is closest in meaning to (4)
○power
○reality
○difficulty
○idea
Paragraph 1: Joy and sadness are experienced by people in all cultures around the world, but how can we tell when other people are happy or despondent? It turns out that the expression of many emotions may be universal. Smiling is apparently a universal sign of friendliness and approval. Baring the teeth in a hostile way, as noted by Charles Darwin in the nineteenth century, may be a universal sign of anger. As the originator of the theory of evolution, Darwin believed that the universal recognition of facial expressions would have survival value. For example, facial expressions could signal the approach of enemies (or friends) in the absence of language. 【OG-The Expression of Emotions】
1. The word “despondent”in the passage is closest in meaning to （2）
○curious
○unhappy
○thoughtful
○uncertain
Paragraph 2: Most investigators concur that certain facial expressions suggest the same emotions in all people. Moreover, people in diverse cultures recognize the emotions manifested by the facial expressions. In classic research Paul Ekman took photographs of people exhibiting the emotions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, and sadness. He then asked people around the world to indicate what emotions were being depicted in them. Those queried ranged from European college students to members of the Fore, a tribe that dwells in the New Guinea highlands. All groups, including the Fore, who had almost no contact with Western culture, agreed on the portrayed emotions. The Fore also displayed familiar facial expressions when asked how they would respond if they were the characters in stories that called for basic emotional responses. Ekman and his colleagues more recently obtained similar results in a study of ten cultures in which participants were permitted to report that multiple emotions were shown by facial expressions. The participants generally agreed on which two emotions were being shown and which emotion was more intense. 【OG-The Expression of Emotions】
3. The word “concur” in the passage is closest in meaning to （2）
○estimate
○agree
○expect
○understand
Paragraph 4: Psychological research has given rise to some interesting findings concerning the facial-feedback hypothesis. Causing participants in experiments to smile, for example, leads them to report more positive feelings and to rate cartoons (humorous drawings of people or situations) as being more humorous. When they are caused to frown, they rate cartoons as being more aggressive. 【OG-The Expression of Emotions】
9. The wordratein the passage is closest in meaning to (1)
○judge
○reject
○draw
○want
Paragraph 6: Ekman’s observation may be relevant to the British expression “keep a stiff upper lip” as a recommendation for handling stress. It might be that a “stiff” lip suppresses emotional response—as long as the lip is not quivering with fear or tension. But when the emotion that leads to stiffening the lip is more intense, and involves strong muscle tension, facial feedback may heighten emotional response. 【OG-The Expression of Emotions】
10. The word “relevant” in the passage is closest in meaning to (4)
○contradictory
○confusing
○dependent
○applicable
Paragraph 1: Most people consider the landscape to be unchanging, but Earth is a dynamic body, and its surface is continually altering-slowly on the human time scale, but relatively rapidly when compared to the great age of Earth (about 4,500 billion years). There are two principal influences that shape the terrain: constructive processes such as uplift, which create new landscape features, and destructive forces such as erosion, which gradually wear away exposed landforms. 【OG-Geology and Landscape】
2. The word “relatively” in the passage is closest in meaning to （2）
○ unusually
○ comparatively
○ occasionally
○ naturally
Paragraph 2: Hills and mountains are often regarded as the epitome of permanence, successfully resisting the destructive forces of nature, but in fact they tend to be relatively short-lived in geological terms. As a general rule, the higher a mountain is, the more recently it was formed; for example, the high mountains of the Himalayas are only about 50 million years old. Lower mountains tend to be older, and are often the eroded relics of much higher mountain chains. About 400 million years ago, when the present-day continents of North America and Europe were joined, the Caledonian mountain chain was the same size as the modern Himalayas. Today, however, the relics of the Caledonian orogeny (mountain-building period) exist as the comparatively low mountains of Greenland, the northern Appalachians in the United States, the Scottish Highlands, and the Norwegian coastal plateau. 【OG-Geology and Landscape】